Day 44

Buongiorno,

This was a crazy, hectic day.

The original plan was to fly from Athens back to Catania in Sicily. We were going to collect our car, then take a ferry from Palermo to Livorno, and stay overnight in the city of Bologna.

At about 2:00am in the morning we received an email from the ferry company to say that the ferry crossing we were booked on had been cancelled, and our money would be refunded.

The refund was fine, but how were we going to get off the Island of Sicily and back to mainland Italy?

There was lots of late night Googling, checking maps and driving times, and a decision made to sail from Palermo to the city of Napoli (Naples). Napoli is a lot further south than Livorno, but Koro had checked

and thought and decided that he could handle the extra driving.

Actually, it probably works out better, as the original sailing would have meant we would have spent all of Grandma's birthday on a car ferry.

It was a very early flight from Athens to Sicily. Our driver collected us from the hotel at 4:30am to take us to the airport. We had a quick breakfast outside the airport before checking luggage.

The flight was cheap, fast and easy. Just what we wanted.

Once in Catania we retrieved our car from the long-term parking company and we were on our way again. Our ferry did not sail until 8:00pm, so we had all day to drive across Sicily from Catania to Palermo.

Our plan was to find a laundromat where we could do some washing. It sounds easy enough, but despite Google Maps and Google Translate, it is difficult to work out subtle cultural differences.

We were looking for a self-service laundry, where we could wash and dry our clothes. The first couple of places we found were dry-cleaning services. The third was not self service. The man who ran it

only had one washer and one dryer. He was happy enough to do our laundry, but it would not be ready until 5:00pm, which was far too late for us.

So it was a bit frustrating, but we did get to visit more ancient Sicilian villages, all built on the top of rocky cliffs with narrow roads.

We decided our best bet for finding a laundromat would be in the city of Palermo. Sure enough, our first stop in Palermo was exactly what we wanted, a self service laundromat with lots of proper, commercial washers and dryers.

Mind you, finding the location in Palermo was no easy task. Palermo is every bit as crowded, chaotic and dirty as Catania.

While we waited for our washing, we took a walk, and found ourselves in the middle of a huge open air market place. Fish, seafood, meat, fruit, vegetables and wine were all for sale. The street was narrow and crowded with people and colours and sounds. Of course, despite being crowded with pedestrians, scooters still tried to roar up and down the street, which meant it was not exactly a relaxing stroll.

Washing done, we found a parking area down by the port, and went in search of an early

dinner.

While looking for dinner we came across a shop that was a bit like a Two Dollar shop in New Zealand. It was full of all sorts of stuff at very cheap prices, including luggage. We had been on the lookout for an extra suitcase to carry the stuff we have bought on our travels. The shop had a suitcase that was perfect size at an attractive price.

Even though the ferry did not sail until 8 o'clock, we wanted to try and find the right ferry terminal before dark. It was a good thing we gave ourselves so much time, because, as we expected, the signs were all in Italian (or no signs at all!) and most of the men working at the port only spoke a little English.

After going the wrong way many times, we eventually managed to get ourselves checked in and our car at the right place without getting squashed by a huge truck.

While we are glad we were early, we wish out ferry had been on time. Despite being due to depart at 8 o'clock, by 7:30pm the ferry still had not even arrived. There are dozens of cars, and it looks like over a hundred trucks waiting to board the ferry. When the ferry arrives, it still has to unload before we can get on. It looks like it is going to be a long time before we leave Palermo.

Love to you all from Grandma and Koro and Bored Bee. XXX OOO.